SELECTION

The selection procedure starts with the screening of applications for various jobs from the interested candidates. Totally unsuitable candidates are rejected at this stage. The personnel department administers various kinds of tests to the candidates to determine if they would be able to do their jobs efficiently. Those passing this stage are called for employment interview. Candidates found suitable for employment are required to go through medical examination and reference checking. The employment process is completed when appointment letters are issued to the candidates clearing all the stages in the selection procedure.

Selection and Recruitment

 Recruitment is the process of identifying sources for prospective candidates who may be stimulated to apply for job in an organization. The main objective of recruitment is developing and maintaining adequate manpower resources with the required skills upon which organization can depend when it needs additional personnel. It helps management to search for competent personnel from among the eligible qualified candidates. As against recruitment, selection is the process of logically choosing individuals who possess the necessary skills and ability to successfully fill specific jobs in the organization. Selection is more of a negative function because it results in the elimination of unsuitable candidates.

Selection Procedure

 The procedure of selection varies from organization to organization and even from department to department within the same organization depending upon the kind of the jobs to be filled. The number of steps in the procedure and the sequence of steps also vary. For instance, some organizations do not hold preliminary interview, test or screening, whereas in some organizations, such as commercial banks preliminary tests are given to eliminate a large numbers of applicants. Similarly, in some cases, medical examination is given before final selection and in someothers, medical check up follows the final selection. Thus, every organization designs a selection procedure that suits its requirements. However, the main steps that could be incorporated in the selection procedure are as under:

 (i) Preliminary interview

 (ii) Receiving applications

 (iii) Screening of applications

 (iv) Employment test

 (v) Employment interview

(vi) Physical examination

 (vii) Checking references

 (viii) Final selection.

 As shown in the figure, every candidate for a job has to clear a number of hurdles before getting selected for it. If he is not found suitable at any stage, he is not considered for the further stages. Thus, he is rejected. The successive stages in the selection process are discussed below:

 (i) Preliminary Interview

 In most of the organizations, the selection programme begins with preliminary interview or screening. The preliminary interview is generally brief and does the job of eliminating the totally unsuitable candidates. The preliminary interview offers advantages not only to the organization, but also to the applicants. If an applicant is eliminated at this stage, the organization will be saved from the expenses of processing him through the remaining steps of the selection procedure and the unsuitable candidate will be saved from the trouble of passing through the long procedure

(ii) Receiving Applications

 Whenever there is a vacancy, it is advertised or enquiries are made from the suitable sources, and applications are received from the candidates. The written information about age, qualifications, experience, etc. may prove to be of greater value to the interviewers. It makes the processing of applications very easy since there is uniformity in filling the data in the application form.

 (iii) Screening of Applications

 After the applications are received, they are screened by a screening committee and a list is prepared of the candidates to be interviewed. Applicants may be called for interview on some specific criteria, like sex, desired age group, experience and qualifications. The number of candidates to be called for interview is normally five to seven times the number of the posts to be filled up. The screened applications are then reviewed by the Personnel Manager and interview letters are dispatched by registered post or under certificate of post.

 (iv) Employment Tests

 Individuals differ in almost all aspects one can think of. They differ with respect to their physical characteristics, capacity to work, level of mental ability and their likes and dislikes and also with respect to their personality traits. The pattern of physical, mental and personal variables gives rise to thousand and one combinations and the particular pattern makes the individual suitable for several classes of activities, jobs or fields of work. Matching of individual’s physical, mental and temperamental pattern with the requirements of job or field of training is a difficult task. But where this matching takes place, the result is happiness for the individual and prosperity for the organization and the society. But instances of round pegs in square holes andviceversaare not rare. So before deciding upon the job or jobs suitable for a particular individual, one should find out the level of his ability, his knowledge in the field he is required to work, his interests and aptitudes in detail. This will require the use of employment tests which are listed below:

 – Intelligence tests.

 – Aptitude tests.

 – Trade or proficiency tests.

– Interest tests.

 – Personality tests.

Employment tests are widely used for judging the applicant’s suitability for the job. They bring out the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals which could be analysed before jobs are offered to them. The tests must be designed properly. If the tests are biased, they will not be good indicators of one’s knowledge and skills. Selections based on such tests will be faulty. That is why, tests should not be relied upon totally.

(v) Employment Interview

 Although applications and employment tests provide a lot of valuable information about the candidate, they do not provide complete information required of the applicant. Interview may be used to get more information about the candidate. The main purpose of an employment interview are: – To find out the suitability of the candidate; – To seek more information about the candidate; and – To give him an accurate picture of the job with details of the terms and conditions implied, and some idea about the organization’s policies.

(vi) Checking References

A referee is potentially an important source of information about a candidate’s ability and personality if he holds a responsible position in some organization or has been the boss or employer of the candidate. Prior to final selection, the prospective employer normally makes an investigation on the references supplied by the applicant and undertakes more or less a thorough search into the candidate’s past employment, education, personal reputation, financial condition, police record, etc. However, it is often difficult to persuade a referee to give his opinion frankly. The organization may persuade him to do so by giving an assurance that all information provided by him will be treated as strictly confidential.

(vii) Medical Examination

 The pre-employment physical examination or medical test of a candidate is an important step in the selection procedure. Though in the suggested selection procedure, medical test is located near the end, but this sequence need not be rigid. The organizations may place the medical examination relatively early in process so as to avoid time and expenditure to be incurred on the selection of medically unfit persons.

(viii) Final Selection and Appointment Letter

 After a candidate has cleared all the hurdles in the selection procedure, he is formally appointed by issuing him an appointment letter or by concluding with him a service agreement. Generally, the candidates are not appointed on permanent basis because it is considered better to try them for a few months on the job itself.